Topics - Darby

I think there are enough signs pointing toward a vintage style 6 inch assortment with the original 12 figures in some capacity that really my only hope beyond the Jawa(s) being awesome is that there is some newness in the repeats. Like a Stormtrooper with the sculpt of the RO figure? Sure. Also seems like they're holding that RO Vader now for this assortment.

Not sure where to put this but here goes: I received an email from Hasbro today for a survey on the Black Series. The survey seemed to want to determine my interest in SA Vintage backed figures for $10.99; 6 inch versions of Bespin Han, General Lando and Grievous, with the latter specifically at a price point of $34.99; my interest in about 20 or so other choices including Gamorrean Guards and Moroff (answer: YES) as well as other BS items like the role play stuff. You get a 20% off code for HTS for participating.

May not be the right place for it, if not, please move. I know I and others have complained directly or indirectly about Paul Harrison and JTA here in the past for a variety of reasons, all tied to his rampant negativity. As time has gone on it's gone from an amusing sort of 'wow did you see that?' to 'is this really happening?' Well, it is, and now it's gone too far.

In the comments he says the figure should be named 'Jihad Jyn.' This is absolutely unacceptable. This man baby has turned our hobby into a platform for airing out his own personal hangups with whatever group it happens to be - women, Muslims, homosexuals (http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/content/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17413/#details) and anyone who disagrees with him. They're toys. They don't deserve the level of discord or frankly interest he assigns them and they certainly don't serve any purpose in any attack on someone's faith or sexuality. For the record, she's wearing a scarf. Women wear scarves. I accept Paul Harrison may not be familiar with such concepts. Paul Harrison is very familiar with commercializing and commodifying his brand of negativity regarding toys. Now it's mutated to people. And it's time for it stop.

Discrimination against anyone has no place in our hobby and has no place anywhere. Time for people to stand up and let him know that. Our hobby is meant to be a place of fun and escape and he has dragged it into the gutter. It's clear he won't give up these things he supposedly hates, because he's making too much money off it - he nakedly pursues reader financial support and has admitted to his obvious click baiting - so we need to be the ones to vote him off the island. He doesn't have to like what he sees but he doesn't have to spew this junk at people either. I could catalog all of his bizarre comments - from posting that Hasbro likely postponed what he thought was a lock stock and barrel exclusive Vintage styled line at TRU last fall simply to spite his website - but I think we have all seen and read enough of his shtick to know it doesn't represent us.

There is a lot of sexism, prejudice and anger in fandom right now from Star Wars to Ghostbusters and I'm here to tell Paul Harrison and whoever else needs telling that there's no place for it. Take your toys and go home.

I was thinking the other day about the tremendous amount of unrealized potential the CW line still has, and like a lot of us at the end of the vintage Kenner line, there are a ton of figures that are 'must-haves' that will never see. One thing that strikes me as odd is Hasbro's complete abandonment of the line. The show is still running, now in syndication; it still draws enough viewers to make it viable for CN or Disney to continue with it, so why no support for it at all? As the original Batman animated series was winding down, Kenner kept that line going for years through exclusive gift sets, primarily at TRU, that milked repaints and retools but still provided enough newness to appeal to collectors. A lot of fan favorites - Alfred, Talia - appeared this way.

Hasbro could do the same. The CW line already is heavily dependent on recycling molds and parts. Continuing the line as exclusive battle packs at say TRU - who routinely carries these types of items for Hasbro anyhow - would be a surefire way to generate sales and keep interest by producing sets of four or five figures or so that were primarliy repaints/retools with the exception of a newly sculpted character, limited in POA. It's also a way to get some very hard to find figures back out there. What do you guys think? TRU has been carrying four and five packs as exclusives (Ewoks, Pilots) recently, so that's the model I follow below.

I know there's a wishlist thread, but I thought with the doom and gloom about the CW line in general, it'd be fun to start a thread where we can promote the figures we want to see. I see a lot of 'there's nothing left to ask for' comments around the web, and I don't think that's true. I'd love to see petitions and drives for some of these figures. So here's mine:

So I see a couple of us are writers on here, so I thought I'd share a link to this very fun new site called Fictionaut. It's sort of Facebook for writers - it's a place for writers of any stripe to go and share their stories with other writers and have constructive commentary back and forth. I write novels - my first is coming out early next year - and I struggle with anything short, so this is really an outlet for me to experiment and develop some creative muscle without any real strings.